Lenovo Legion 5 Review
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/69449507/cfaulkner_20210608_4624_0013.0.jpg)
Touchpad and Keyboard
Awesome. That’s the only way to describe the Lenovo Legion 5 15’s “TrueStrike Gaming Keyboard,” which features 100% anti-ghosting, 4-zone RGB, and a full ten-key. We can relate to Lenovo’s excellent promises of key travel. This is evident from previous Legion 5 gaming lines.
The TrueStrike keyboard is equivalent to using one of Lenovo’s ThinkPad keyboards in real-world gaming. The keyboard feels extremely comfortable and is responsive. Like the ThinkPads, the Lenovo 5’s keycaps are curved at the bottom and concave in the center, making typing by touch itself a breeze.
A precision touchpad is located below the keyboard, measuring 4.7×3 inches in size. The smooth surface allows for cursor movement, scrolling, switching and other multi-touch gestures such as scrolling or switching with two and three fingers. Although it is slightly out of center, its palm rejection function is sufficient to allow you to play WASD shooters without having your palm touch the touchpad.
Gaming Performance
Strong performance of the Legion 5i Pro was carried over to gaming. However, performance mode only made a small difference in some games and settings. This is due to Lenovo delivering 150 watts to RTX3070 Ti. The 3DMark Time Spy score of Lenovo was impressive, beating even the RTX3080 Ti from the Gigabyte Aero 16.
Lenovo managed to get the most out of the components and build a highly capable gaming machine.
The Razer Blade 17 performed very well at 1200p with ultra-high graphics. It came in third place behind MSI GE76 Raider and MSI GE76 Raider, both of which have RTX 3080T GPUs. At 1440p, it maintained 60 frames per second (or near enough). Ultra-high graphics hit 58 frames per second.
Fortnite followed the same pattern, with the Legion 5i Pro coming in just behind the MSI GE76 Raider to take second place. It hit 68 fps at 1600p and epic graphics.
Modern titles that have graphics upped are capable of running at 1440p on the Legion 5i Pro. Again, Lenovo managed to get the most out of the components and build a highly capable gaming machine.
Lenovo Legion 5 Performance
You can choose between the RTX 3060 and RTX 3070 options for your Legion 5 Pro. The RTX3070 GPU was paired with the Ryzen7 5800H processor, 16GB RAM, and 1TB M.2 SATA storage. When setting up the unit, the options were presented to me: either keep Windows 10 or upgrade to Windows 11. After choosing the second option, my computer booted up into Windows 10 and began downloading the updates in the background. It then installed it on a subsequent restart.
With Windows 11, some of Lenovo’s software options are kept out of sight. For example, the Lenovo Vantage tool sits as an icon on the taskbar, and you no more get to see the battery widget. However, the Vantage app gives granular controls over charging, power modes, and controlling the mic. You also get a pre-installed licensed copy of MS Office 2019.
On a daily basis, the Legion 5 Pro bodes well with work tasks. The Legion 5 Pro is capable of handling all tasks, including opening up to 9 tabs in Google Chrome and editing images in Adobe Photoshop. Throughout a usual workday, the laptop did not kick off its cooling fans, unless I was downloading a game in the background.
The large full-size keyboard is comfortable but I wish Lenovo had squeezed better keys. The key feedback is soft and it often makes for an unsatisfactory typing experience. A dedicated Numpad is helpful for generic tasks. It is responsive to Windows 11 gestures and large.
The Legion 5 Pro is a gaming console. With this combo of the RTX 3070 and Ryzen 7 5800H, the Legion 5 Pro was able to run some of the latest titles at its highest graphical settings at its full 2K resolution. Forza Horizon 5 ran at Ultra graphics preset and High Ray Tracing with an average frame rate between 35-46 FPS at 2k resolution. Frame rates around 60 FPS were achieved by scaling down the resolution.
Similarly, F1 2021 ran at the highest possible graphics preset of Ultra at 2K resolution and yielded an average frame rate of 60 fps. I also observed an average 60 fps frame rate for Mafia:The Definitive Edition at its highest graphics and Dirt 5.
While I had no issues with the gameplay experience, the laptop ran hot all the time and after an hour of the fans working continuously, I observed frame drops in Forza Horizon 5 and Mafia. Other titles that I played for more than an hour did not show any performance slowdown.
The audio quality is another concern when gaming. The onboard speakers are loud enough for a single room but the audio quality has room for improvement. Gaming will benefit from external speakers or headphones that provide more depth. However, the onboard microphone arrangement works well and was very helpful for video calling or group meetings.
These are the Best Gaming Laptops in 2021
Because of Lenovo’s 165Hz refresh speed G-Sync display, it is easier to appreciate the high frame rates here than other models. Games feel responsive, and they look great. The panel specs say that it can reach 500 nits of brightness, and that it’s certified for color accuracy by X-Rite and Pantone. I didn’t have tools on hand to put those claims to the test, but the colors look accurate and the screen gets bright enough to make it possible to work outdoors or to sit next to a window that’s giving off some glare without squinting to see text or images. For most tasks I did not need to increase the brightness beyond halfway. This setting also seems to be comparable to the maximum brightness claimed by the ROG Zephyrus, which claims 300 nits. The gaming experience felt more cinematic by increasing the brightness, much like watching on bright TV. Viewing angles are wide and generous, too, and it provides a serviceable image on lower brightness settings if you’re trying to conserve battery. Lastly, I appreciate how thin the bezels are surrounding the display — even the chin bezel at the bottom is barely there.
Designs and Features
This notebook’s display on Lenovo is an excellent indicator of its suitability for both professional and gaming tasks. It’s got a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is more common on professional notebooks than on gaming devices, and it makes loads of sense for both situations. The extra vertical space means that you’ve got more room for games, but it also makes it easier to navigate websites, office apps and other tools when compared to 16:9 panels – they can seem a little squashed by comparison.
The display keeps impressing. The 2,560×1,600 resolution gives you a sharper picture than Full HD screens and 1440p panels. It’s a good move to have a 16-inch diagonal. This gives you a little more space and immersion than an average 15.6 inch notebook, without having to be as large as 17.3 inches.
It measures 26.8mm in thickness and 356mm in width. This is half a millimeter thicker than the standard 15.6 inch Lenovo Legion laptop. It’s also 7mm wider. These are impressive figures. Lenovo is able to fit the screen into a compact chassis because of its slim display bezels.
Nvidia G-Sync and a 165Hz refresh rate bolster the Legion’s gaming credentials. That’s high enough to provide butter-smooth motion in any mainstream single-player game, and it’s good enough to handle everyday esports.
Design
This laptop’s display from Lenovo is the best proof it is suitable for both professional and current gaming tasks. It has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is more common on business notebooks than gaming devices, and it makes perfect sense in both cases. The extra vertical room provides more space for games, but it also makes webpages, office apps, and other tools easier to browse when compared with 16:9 panels.
The display continues to amaze as it has a higher resolution than Full HD displays and 1440p panels you’ll find elsewhere, its 2560×1600 resolution is more detailed. The 16” diagonal is a good choice as well: it provides greater immersion and space than the typical 15.6” notebook without being quite as big as 17.3” laptops.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has a 16 inch screen that measures in at 26.8 mm thick by 356 mm width. This screen is 0.5 millimeters thinner and 7mm wider than the regular 15.6 inch Lenovo laptop. Those are fantastic numbers, and because of slim display bezels, Lenovo may fit the screen inside this fairly tiny shell. Nvidia G-Sync is a feature that enhances the Legion’s gaming experience. It also has a refresh rate of 165Hz. This is high enough to provide buttery smooth motion in any typical single-player game, as well as everyday esports.
Thermostats and Upgradability
For thermals, you have Legion Coldfront 3.0 with Quad Channel Exhaust System with Copper Fins that really makes a difference during heavy loads. Though if your system uses the full resources in high-end games for a prolonged period of time, you will hear the fans spinning but not very loud that it would be too noticeable even while gaming.
Lenovo does boast that its cooling is very robust one to sustain maximum clock speeds with zero throttling over long sessions, thanks to its dual-fan design, it is in fact true. Among a lot of gaming laptops I tested last year, the Lenovo Legion 5i, has in fact one of the best thermals, close to the ROG Zephyrus M16, which was crowned the best gaming laptop of 2021.
You have 2x 8GB SODIMM DDR4-3200 RAM. They can be replaced if necessary and you can expand to 32GB DDR4-3200. It is great to see Lenovo offering gamers plenty of upgrade options so they can use their laptops long-term.
The Lenovo Legion 5i supports up to two drives, 2x M.2 SSD, one of them being PCIe gen 4 compatible with up to 1TB storage and the other one with up to 512GB storage support. You can remove the existing one and use a higher 1TB SSD and use another 512GB SSD to expand your storage in future.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Legion 5i is no exception to the Lenovo reputation for having the most comfortable keyboards. As I type this review on this gaming laptop, the typing experience is really smooth as the keycaps are tactile and mushy, overall, you will get the same comfort of typing you get on the Lenovo’s ThinkPad series.
However, while the trackpad isn’t the most compact, it is still very useful. The quality of it is really good, one of the bests on a gaming notebook, though cannot be replaced with a mouse, however, for general use I enjoy using the Lenovo Legion 5i’s trackpad.
Lenovo Legion 5 Review: Battery Life and Performance
The Legion 5 performs well, but then I expected nothing less from a laptop with a Ryzen 7 5800H octa-core processor, RTX 3070 GPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 8GB of VRAM.
It chewed through the Expert Reviews 4K media benchmark in short order and produced a score of 284. That’s better than the Core i7-based TUF Dash F15 (194) but not quite as good as the AMD 5800H/RTX3060-equipped Acer Nitro 5 (323).
Turning to game tests, the Legion 5 averaged 61fps in the Hitman 2 test and 68fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The latter was performed with ray tracing enabled, DLSS off and all other graphics settings set at the highest level.
Finally, we ran Wolfenstein: Youngblood under a variety of conditions: the first with ray tracing off, then with ray tracing switched on and DLSS off and again with both ray tracing and DLSS on. These results produced frames rates of 160, 126, and 143 frames per second, respectively.
All of those scores are higher than those recorded by either the Acer Nitro or the Asus TUF Dash. It’s also on a par with those from the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15, which is a PS2,600 gaming notebook with the same GPU but a Ryzen 9 5900HS processor instead. As little as 18 months ago such performance from a PS1,300 notebook would have been unthinkable.
The Legion 5’s surprisingly high frame rates could be down to a pair of Lenovo-specific factors. The Lenovo Legion AI Engine is the first. This system, which Lenovo describes as a “system of AI solutions that dynamically shifts power among the CPU and GPU to increase FPS”, can be found at Lenovo. It’s frustratingly vague, but it does seem to be making a difference.
The second string to the Legion 5’s bow is a highly efficient cooling system. The fans are quieter than other gaming laptops, even at maximum speed. However they still do an excellent job in removing hot air. Place your hand next to either of the side vents just forward of the hinge and you can really feel a strong current of hot air being pushed out.
The SK Hynix SSD recorded consecutive read and write scores of 3,137MB/s and 2,712MB/s respectively, which again is better than anything the direct competition can manage and very respectable for a PCI-E Gen3 x4 drive.
The spec sheet states that the Legion 5 must have a 60Wh unit, but my unit had an 80Wh unit (5,210mAh). The poor video performance during our video rundown tests could have been explained if it was the latter.
Running for just 7hrs 32mins, the Legion 5 is well below average for a laptop in this category. The Asus TUF Dash F15 managed close to twice that with its 90Wh battery. Although the 300W power module that comes with the Legion 5 is a 600g brick of a thing, you can also charge with a Type-C charger with a 65W or higher output or with a 45W Type-C charger when the unit is turned off or in standby.
Display Quality
The Lenovo Legion 5 (15” Intel 2021) configuration that we tested had a Full HD 160Hz IPS panel model number BOENV156FHM–NY8 (BOE0998). The diagonal measures 15.6 inches (39.62cm), while the resolution is 1920 kh 1080. It has a 16:9 screen ratio. We are seeing a pixel density (-142 ppi) and pitch (0.18 kh 0.18mm). The screen turns into Retina when viewed at distance equal to or greater than 60cm (24”) (from this distance one’s eye stops differentiating the separate pixels, and it is normal for looking at a laptop).
Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.
It is not recommended that dE2000 values exceed 4.0. This parameter should be checked if the user intends to use their laptop for color sensitive work. Good contrast ratio – 1190 to 1.
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. The CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity diagram, which represents the visible spectrum of colors as seen by the human eye and gives you an improved perception of color coverage and color accuracy, is the best place to start.
The standard color gamut (sRGB), which is used by millions on HDTV as well as the internet, can be seen inside the black triangle. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. The black triangle contains colors that can be used by all people and is essential for the quality of color and accuracy in a mainstream notebook.
We have included color spaces such as DCI-P3 used by film studios and digital UHD Rec.2020. Rec.2020 is however a future concept and today’s display technology makes it difficult to show that. The so-called Michael Pointer gamut (or Pointer’s range) is also included. This represents colors that are naturally found around us each day.
The yellow dotted line shows Lenovo Legion 5 (15” Intel, 2021)’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 97% of the colors of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Here are the Lenovo Legion 5 scores (15” Intel 2021), compared with default settings (left) and the profile “Gaming & Web design” (right).
Next, you can see how the display reproduces dark areas of images. This is important when playing video games or watching movies in dim lighting.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. The grayscale and the luminance are located on the horizontal axis. You can see how the display handles dark nuances on these graphs. However, this will depend on your settings, calibration and viewing angle.
Bottom Line
When it comes to performance as a rating factor, the Lenovo Legion 5 is right up there with most competitors – some costing much more – but it sells itself with a robust keyboard and display combo. This laptop is affordable, at least for midrange gaming laptops. This laptop still offers a comfortable ThinkPad keyboard, a large 1080p screen and an excellent display.
So, if all you want is high performance and you can spend more on it, you might do better with competitors like the MSI GL66 11UGK-001 or the Alienware m15 R4, which almost mirrors the Legion 5 but with a better Nvidia RTX 3070 GPU.
If you are looking for a premium laptop, then the Lenovo Legion 5 15 model (82JW0012US) is the right choice. It’s a great value and still cheaper than higher-end models. This laptop is as close to perfect as you can get.
Although performance is good, the Intel Cpu significantly reduces value.
Simply put, the AMD-powered Legion 5 Pro has a lower price and is more powerful than its predecessor the Legion 5i Pro. The 5 Pro offers a more powerful and more efficient AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, and more powerful RTX 3070 GPU for the same 1.6 lakhs that the Legion 5i Pro retails for.
Although the 5800H may appear slower than the 11800H on paper, it is still significantly faster. It’s also far more efficient that Intel’s 11800H. This allows the GPU to stretch its legs, and gain a significant lead in productivity and gaming over the Legion 5i Pro.
The Legion 5i Pro clocked in at 1080p with max quality and pushed out 97 fps for F1 2019. 170 in CS GO, 74 and Horizon: Zero Dawn. 60+ were recorded in Red Dead Redemption 2. Using enabling features such as DLSS or FSR, we were able to push the resolution up to 1600p. This resulted in comparable performance.
The same scenario saw the Legion 5 Pro achieve 135 FPS (F1 2019, 188 FPS (CS:GO), and 79% (Horizon Zero Dawn). I don’t have figures for Red Dead Redemption 2, unfortunately.
The Legion 5 achieved 83 FPS in Metro ExodusEE to beat the 5i’s 61.
Review in Two Minutes
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gaming laptop is easily one of the best gaming laptops we’ve ever gotten our hands on. While it doesn’t quite have the same gaming chops as true desktop replacements running desktop-class hardware like the Gigabyte Aorus 17X, it outperforms other gaming laptops in its class like the Asus Zephyrus G15 and Gigabyte Aorus 17G.
There are two key areas that can affect the gaming experience on a laptop. Obviously, there’s performance, and here the Legion 5 Pro absolutely shines. This laptop has one of our highest scoring mobile RTX3070 laptops. The AMD Ryzen7 5800H is capable of handling almost any task, even if it does not match the Zephyrus G15 Ryzen9 5900HS.
There is also the issue of battery life, with the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro putting in a respectable showing, but isn’t quite best in class. For gamers who don’t plan to spend too much time away from an outlet, this shouldn’t be a problem, but based on our experience, you’re not very likely to get through a cross country flight with it unless you travel all fancy and have a charging outlet under your seat.
You also get a full-sized, tenkey keyboard which is a nice thing to have if you use a numpad a lot for work or for gaming macros. The display is a gorgeous QHD (2,560 x 1,600p), 16:10 IPS screen with up to 500 nits of brightness, Dolby Vision, and up to a 165Hz refresh rate with 3ms response time. There are many ports available, which means you can use it for almost everything without needing to carry a dock.
All in all, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro definitely deserves to be in contention for one of the best gaming laptops out there, though it has stiff competition. The exact specifications of your gaming needs will vary, but this laptop is one that everyone should check out.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Battery Life
Gaming laptops usually do not excel with regards to battery life and the Legion 5 Pro affirms that. On battery power, the Legion 5 Pro lasted at most for 1.5 hours before throwing up the low-battery prompts. Note that my use case involved having the display at 50 percent battery, constantly connected to the Wi-Fi, and the laptop set to Legion Balanced Power plan. Gaming on the battery power also saw a major drop in frame rates.
To speed up your battery’s charge, Lenovo offers a Rapid Charge option. The 300W charging adapter is suggested to be plugged in while gaming. Due to its large size, many may not be able to travel with the Legion 5 Pro. I tried using a 65W Lenovo charger and a USB-PD charger for charging but it refused to top up.
Design And Screen
The Lenovo Legion 5 Advantage Edition is not one of those gaming laptops that’s going to light up whatever room it’s in and dazzle you with a full-scale rainbow light show every time you open up the lid. Compared with many of its competitors it’s rather understated and low key in the looks department, built simply from plastic and aluminium, which of course means you can use it as a general-purpose laptop at the office without attracting too much attention.
The overall aesthetic of the laptop is a bit chunky and angular. However, it’s not distracting. We like the way the screen is a little way forward from the back of the laptop, the look of the rounded keys on the keyboard, and the subtle Legion lettering on the back of the lid. This laptop weighs in at 2.4 kilograms (5.3 pounds), so it’s a chunk more than a typical ultra-portable.
The 15.6-inch IPS LCD display, with its 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution, is typical of the laptop as a whole: it’s good, but it’s not the best in class. The screen’s brightness is 250 nits. You can get brighter screens elsewhere. However, we were happy with the quality of what it offered in movies, everyday computing, and gaming. We didn’t experience any ghosting or tearing due to the screen’s 5ms response speed, 165Hz refresh rate, and AMD FreeSync support.
Most of the ports on the Legion 5 are at the back, which is actually a good call: three USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (DisplayPort 1.4 and power delivery), one HDMI 2.1. The left side of the Legion 5 is the USB-C-3.2 Gen 2 DisplayPort 1.4, and the 3.5mm mic/headphone jack. On the right you will see the USB-A-3.2 Gen 1. A separate power port is located on the back. There’s also an Ethernet port and a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 webcam.
- Everything you need to know about the best gaming chairs
- Everything you need to know about the best gaming chairs
Specs As Reviewed- 2021 Lenovo Legion 5
In the meantime, I’ve also reviewed the Legion 5 17-inch RTX model over here, as well as the mid-tier RTX 3060 version of the Legion 5 15-inch over here.
Cpu Options
You can configure this machine with many Intel Tiger Lake H45 processors, including Core i5-11260H and Core i5-11400H. Core i7-11600H. Core i7-11800H.
Lenovo Legion 5 Review: What’s Not So Good About It?
The Legion’s 5 Phantom Black color is my favorite, but I have concerns about the rubberized base of the keyboard deck. Though it feels soft and smooth I fear the rubber coating might start eroding as time goes on.
The pros
- Incredible gaming performance
- Amazing keyboard and display
- Excellent hardware controls
- Great value for the price
Lenovo Legion 5 15″ (2021, Amd)
- Launched: June 2021
- Screen-to-body ratio: ~71.2%
- Dimensions: 363 x 259.6 x 23.5 mm (14.29 x 10.22 x 0.93 inches)
Wrap-Up
Don’t get me wrong. Overall, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a great laptop… for the most part. While it performs great for basic day-to-day tasks, you’ll get the best gaming performance by reducing the 2560×1600 resolution to 1920×1200 with the base offered GTX 3050 video card. If you are able to afford it, I recommend at the very least getting the RTX3060 or 3070 graphics card. This will allow for higher resolution gaming.
This page was last updated on October 31, 20,21.
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Review: Price And Configurations
The other prebuilt option jumps to $1,700 for an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and the same backlit keyboard.
At the time of writing, this unit was not configurable in Lenovo’s configurator. The laptop is equipped with a Ryzen 7 5800H processor, a GeForce RTX3070 graphics card, 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. It also has a backlit RGB keyboard. Similar configurations are available for as low as $2270. However, this laptop comes with two 1TB SSDs. Lenovo requires that you add another 1TB SSD to your initial 1TB SSD.
Get Our Profiles
Our profiles can be tailored to each display model. This article and the associated profile packages are for Lenovo Legion 5, (15” Intel 2021), configurations with 15.6″ FHD IPS BOE, NV156FHM, NY8 (BOE0998).
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com.
Read more about the profiles HERE.
Real-Life Gaming
On the positive side, the GPU thermals are just fine – 73degC in short stress and 78degC in prolonged gaming sessions. It is great to see the GeForce GTX 3050Ti (95W), taking advantage of the large TGP and decent cooling. After 30 minutes playing games, 1978MHz is an amazing result.
Review Breakdown
Last updated on 2022-05-12 02:31. Affiliate links and Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Lenovo Legion 5 Review
Lenovo Legion 5 Review (2021 Model, Ryzen 7 5800H And Rtx 3050Ti)
Back to Top Specs sheet Design and exterior Keyboard trackpad Screen Hardware performance, noise and heat Speakers Battery life Prices and availability Last thoughts Comments I was impressed with the Dell Inspiron 5155 and then the Lenovo Legion 5. Amazon has a fantastic deal.
My decision to buy this model was easy – it was cheap and I was impressed by the reviews of the last year’s model. I was also fortunate enough to have the Legion 5 Pro with me, which was pure awesome.
But, knowing this laptop costs almost half of that of the Legion 5 Pro I was able to lower my expectations. What could you expect from a $1000 laptop? Surprise! It is actually quite nice. Only lower specs.
It was worth the wait. This one is for a lifetime.
For a more detailed analysis of the testing, see below.
Share All Sharing Options For: Lenovo’S Legion 5I Is A Gaming Laptop Of Few Compromises And Few Perks
Companies often use Intel’s or AMDs annual leaps in processor generation as an opportunity for complete redesign of their desktops and laptops. Lenovo’s 15-inch Legion 5i hasn’t made it that far yet, but that’s not what I am complaining about. This laptop has a simple, attractive design that could be appealing to more than just gamers.
Lenovo has taken the confusing Legion Y540 naming convention and simplified it to give you some examples of how small-lift this year’s changes. A Legion 5i processor with an Intel-based i number denotes it. Lenovo can also offer the Legion 5 with AMD Ryzen 5 and 7 4000-series processing options. It also improved the trackpad this year by getting rid of the left and right mouse buttons, giving you more space to move the pointer around. It moved the webcam to the top of the display to avoid the nostril-view perspective that the Y540 provided.
If you’re looking for big year-over-year improvements, you’ll only find those on the inside of the Legion 5i. Lenovo included the 10th Gen Intel Core i5 & i7H series processors in this machine. Additionally, each configuration includes a Nvidia graphics chips. Lenovo has sent the highest-end model, which can be purchased for $1,350. (At time of publication, it was discounted to $1.289). It has a 1080p IPS screen with a 144Hz refreshrate, Intel’s hexacore Core i7-10750H core CPU, Nvidia RTX2060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SATA SSD. If you want a laptop that can play most of your games at 60 frames per second without docking the visuals much, it’s the only configuration offered that’s worth any serious consideration.
The Legion 5i isn’t something I want to brag about too much. The overall package is similar to Lenovo’s $989 IdeaPad Gaming 3 that I recently reviewed. While it may be difficult to see the difference if you stand a distance away from them, the Legion 5i is more capable with twice as much RAM and storage. The display refreshes at 144Hz rather than 120Hz, and has a stronger RTX2060. These specs are a marked improvement on the performance. However, after reviewing the two machines I can see that the $350 increase in price seems to be acceptable. Although it could have offered the RTX2060 at a less expensive configuration, Lenovo should have included more, such as a Thunderbolt 3 connector, so that the jump is easier.
Lenovo Legion 5 PRO: I Agree to Continue
Smart devices require that you accept certain terms and condition before you can use them. This is a list no one ever reads. Each one of these terms and conditions is too complex for us to fully understand. We started to count how many times we had to click “accept” when reviewing these agreements, since most people aren’t familiar with them and can’t agree to any of them.
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro gives you many choices to make or to decline during setup.
Mandatory policies that require an agreement are:
A request for your language, region, and keyboard layout
You can also agree to the following optional items:
Tests
For at least a week, we use each laptop as our primary device.
For performance testing, we employ both real-world benchmarks and synthetic benchmarks.
A colorimeter is used to assess the screen.
To determine the battery’s life, we use both a benchmark and our own tests.
The Lenovo Legion 5 offers well-balanced and impressive speed alongside good thermal performance, an impressive keyboard and a subtle design that’s packed with ports – and it’s often cheaper than rivals. This machine weighs more than its competitors and has a less impressive display.
Cons
720p webcam
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is one of my favorite gaming laptops of 2021. It’s been a few years since I last worked on a Legion gaming laptop, as I always linked Lenovo with its ThinkPads for business or school use, much like Dell’s were back in the day. It was never a serious contender on the gaming laptop market. But boy was I wrong.
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (140W) 8GB GDDR6 Memory: 16GB, 8GBx2, DDR4 3200MHz Display: 16-inch QHD IPS, 16:10, 500 nits, 165Hz / 3ms response time Resolution: 2560 x 1600 Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD Battery: 6-Cell 86 Wh Connectivity: USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4), Headphone / mic combo, USB 3.2 Gen 1, 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.4, power delivery), HDMI 2.1 OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit Dimensions: 1.1 x 14.01 x 10.4 inches Weight: 5.4 lbs Warranty: One year limited The Legion 5 Pro config that arrived for review was pretty stacked for only $1,650. The SSD comes in a small 512GB size, which is disappointing considering how many games are being installed. It’s a tough call to make when it comes to hard drive size vs. overall cost, but at least an SSD can always be upgraded.
The 16-inch QHD IPS display deserves mentioning early on, as it’s a wildly bright and colorful 500 nits IPS panel, a dream to use for work and play. Strangely, I use it to view the NY Mets’ first place team all week. The colors in their uniforms pop out and I think the Mets being first is a fantastic achievement. Fights in Tight Spaces has great reds. The cyberpunk neon lighting in Necromunda hired gun looks amazing even as I watch my war dog go about gangsters.
Legion 5 Pro is known for its unique number pad. The full keyboard felt a little cramped at first. I found it to be a slight inconvenience, though it did not affect my typing speed.
Image 1 (Image credit Future) Image 2 (Image credit Future) Image 3 (3 (Image credit Future) I’ve always heard people praise the Lenovo keyboards, but I never believed them. I admit that I understand it. These keycaps feel nice with their rounded bottoms. Combine that with the large, 4.7 x 3 inch touchpad and you get a beautiful work laptop that can play games smoothly. The extra storage space offered by 17-inch gaming laptops would make my life easier.
Lenovo Legion 5 Review: What is Good About It?
Legion 5’s display at 120Hz is a decent 15.6-inch 1920x1080IPS. This notebook has high refresh rates. Depending on what game you’re playing, everything looks sharp and smooth. You can’t go back to 60Hz if you play a game with a refresh rate of 120Hz. Sharp and bright display are ideal for viewing movies and reading news articles. The bezels are thin and the screen can lay back flat to 180 degrees.
Zoom and Teams are not what Legion 5 needs, so the webcam there is very basic. It still uses the same webcam at 720p. This is fine. However, Legion 5’s version should come with a 1080p webcam. Harman’s 2W speakers are much more powerful than what you might expect for an entry-level gaming laptop. They very loud whether you are playing a game, watching a movie, or listening to music.
There is also a privacy shield for the Legion 5 webcam. The keyboard. (Image credit Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express. The TrueStrike keyboard offers a pleasant typing experience with 1.5mm travel and keycaps that are sculpted. The keyboard took me some time to learn, but once I did I really started to enjoy it. The keyboard’s physical layout is what I love most. It has a large number pad at the right, and the keyboard includes well-placed directions keys. While the review unit had a white-backlit keyboard, Lenovo has a four-zone RGB variant. The large touchpad underneath the keyboard is quick and responsive. Sadly, the laptop lacks support for biometrics.
Its layout was what really impressed me about this keyboard. Image credit to Anuj Bhattia/Indian Express. Our unit was equipped with the Ryzen 5 4600H processor and 8GB RAM. It also had 1TB of 5400 HDD storage, 256GB PCIe SSD, and an 8GB RAM. You get six Zen 2 cores with 12 threads at a base speed of 3.0GHz. Nvidia’s GTX 1650Ti GPU is an entry-level CPU that has 4GB VRAM but does not offer real-time tracing support. Although it isn’t the most powerful CPU in its class, I think the Ryzen 5 4600H will do the job just fine considering the cost of the laptop. Forza Horizon 4 as well as Halo 4 were played, with no issues at all. The Forza Horizon 4 looks fantastic on the Legion 5.
The Forza Horizon 4 looks fantastic on the Legion 5. Image credit to Anuj Bhattia/India Express. The laptop was quite versatile beyond gaming. Legion 5 has proved to be a reliable choice for digital journalists who are working at home these past months. The notebook was generally zippy and quiet, even with multiple Chrome tabs open in the background. In day-to-day use, I never really noticed problems with the machine. If you edit video, render 3D graphics all day or play endlessly with games, there will be no problem.
Four hours of battery life is possible for the Legion 5, which is typical for laptops used in gaming. It will be charged at least twice daily, depending on the way you use it.
Price And Availability
This is the Lenovo Legion Pro configuration that TechRadar received for review:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800U Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3070 Screen: 16-inch, 2560x1600p, 16:10, 165Hz, 3ms, 500 nits Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD Ports: 4 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Data, DP 1.4), 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Data, Power, DP 1.4), 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x RJ-45, 1 x 3.5mm combo Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 Camera: 720p with E-Shutter, Dual Array microphone Weight: 5.4lbs (2.54kg) Size (W x D x H): 14.01 x 10.4 x 1.1ins (356 x 264.2 x 26.85mm) Battery: 80WHr with Rapid Charge The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro model we reviewed is the only configuration available at this time and is now on sale in the US for $1,599 (about PS1,135 / AU$2,075), with UK and Australia availability coming soon.
This is $200 less than the Asus Zephyrus G15 configuration we reviewed, and while the Legion 5 Pro’s Ryzen 7 5800U is a step below the Ryzen 9 5900HS found in the Zephyrus G15, the specs are essentially the same otherwise.
We’ll be discussing the performance of the Legion 5 Pro in the next section. The Legion 5 Pro offers a better price than the Zephyrus G15 as we reviewed. This is why the Legion 5 Pro’s high cost is a significant advantage. Its limited availability at the moment isn’t specific to this laptop though, since every laptop with RTX 30-series hardware is generally tough to come by.
Verdict: It lacks bling.
The Legion 5 is as boring as a Volkswagen Jetta. The Legion 5 is a well-priced, comprehensive package that won’t impress you. However, it doesn’t feel like the type of device that you will be disappointed by.
They are well-specced, the performance is excellent, and they cost a reasonable price. You could do without better speakers but it is still a great value.
Tech2 Gadgets offers the most up-to-date tech gadgets online.
Tech news, ratings and reviews. A variety of top-rated gadgets such as the tablet, smartphone, or mobile phone specifications. Prices, features and comparisons.
Amazon beauty has Vanity Diaries. Episode 5 – Radhika Apte – Her Moods and Her Makeup.
Also see
Lenovo Legion 5Pi & Legion 5I gaming laptops are launched in India for a price starting at Rs.79,990
CES 2021 CES 2021: Lenovo Legion 7, Legion Slim 7, Legion 5 Pro, Legion 5 gaming laptops announced
TechReview , Camera, GPS: Why iOS 6 should be a priority
GPS, Camera and Maps: Why iOS 6 should be a priority
Is Lenovo Legion 5 2021 Worth It?
Summary: The Lenovo Legion 5 is an excellent laptop for under $1k. This laptop is powerful, has good screen quality, and has decent graphics. You will find many other amazing features on this one.
Legion 5 is worth the investment?
However, these issues can be fixed and the Legion 5 will become one of the top-value gaming notebooks for its age. It is currently the AMD Ryzen 4000 version Lenovo Legion 5 that’s most highly anticipated. Sep 18, 2021
What is Lenovo Legion 5’s Screen Worth?
Unfortunately, Legion does not meet the highest quality standards. It has a brightness of 328 nanoits which is quite good. However, its black point at 0.46 nanoits makes the light less bright. This results in a contrast ratio of 713 to 1. … This display from Lenovo is suitable for gaming. The brightness, resolution, and refresh rate of the Lenovo are all good.
The Legion 5, Gaming’s Best Option
A lot of tasks can be made simple by the Lenovo Legacy 5 Pro. The core of the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is a gaming laptop. It plays very well. You can also use it for other purposes, such as gaming.
.Lenovo Legion 5 Review
